On the one hand, she could tell you, from the very bottom of her heart, that she didn’t believe Stanley Forbes had deserved to die. That he deserved life and she had done all she could to bring him back. It wasn’t unforgivable, what he’d done as a child, what he’d been made to do. He was learning, trying every day to be a better man, Pip believed this with every part of her being. That and the terrible guilt that she’d been the one to lead his killer to him.
Yet, at the same time, she believed in the very opposite thing. And this one came from somewhere even deeper. Her soul, maybe, if she’d believed in those sorts of things. Though he had been a child, Stanley was the reason Charlie Green’s sister had been murdered. Pip had asked herself: if someone picked out Josh and delivered him to a killer, to die the most horrific death imaginable, would she spend two decades chasing justice, hunting them down to kill them? The answer was yes. She knew she would, without hesitation; she would kill the person who took her brother away, no matter how long it took. Charlie had been right; they were the same. There was an understanding between them, this… this sameness.
That’s why she couldn’t talk about it, not to a professional, not to anyone. Because it was impossible, incompatible. It had torn her in two and there was no way to stitch those parts back together. It was untenable. Beyond sense. No one could understand, except… maybe him. She hesitated at her driveway, looking to the house just beyond it.
Charlie Green. That’s why she needed him to be found, not caught. He’d helped her once before, opened her eyes about right and wrong and who decided what those words meant. Maybe… maybe if she could talk to him, he’d understand. He was the only one who could. He must have found a way to live with what he’d done, and maybe he could show Pip how to live with it too. Show her a way to fix everything, how to put herself back together again. But Pip was in two minds about this as well; it made perfect sense and it made none.
A rustle in the trees across the road from her house.
Pip’s breath caught in her throat as she whipped around and stared, trying to shape the darkness into a person, the wind into a voice. Was there someone there, hiding in the trees, watching her? Following her? Tree trunks or legs? Charlie? Was it him?
She strained her eyes, trying to draw out individual leaves and their skeletal branches.
No, there couldn’t be anyone there, don’t be stupid. It was just another of those things that lived in her head now. Scared of everything. Angry at everything. It wasn’t real and she needed to learn the difference again. Sweat on her hands, not blood. She walked up to her house, glancing back only once. The pill will take it away soon, she told herself. Along with everything else.
How do pathologists determine time of death in a homicide case?
The most important thing to note is that time of death can only ever be an estimated range; a pathologist cannot give a specific time of death, as we sometimes see in movies and TV shows. There are three main mortis factors used to determine the estimated time of death, and some of these tests are performed at the crime scene itself, as soon as possible after the victim is found. As a general rule, the sooner a victim is found post-mortem, the more accurate the time of death estimate.[1]
1. Rigor Mortis
Immediately after death, all the muscles in the body relax. Then, typically around 2 hours post-mortem, the body starts to stiffen due to a build-up of acid in the muscle tissues.[2] This is rigor mortis. It begins in the muscles in the jaw and neck, proceeding downwards through the body to the extremities. Rigor mortis is normally complete within 6-12 hours, and then starts to disappear approximately 15-36 hours after death.[3] As this stiffening process has a roughly known time of occurrence, it can be very useful in estimating time of death. However, there are a few factors that can impact the onset and timeline of rigor, such as temperature. Warm temperatures will increase the rate of rigor, whereas cold temperatures will slow it down.[4]
2. Livor Mortis
Also known as lividity, livor mortis is the settling of the blood inside the body due to gravity and the loss of blood pressure. [5] The skin will become discoloured with a red/purple tinge where the blood has pooled internally.[6] Livor mortis starts to develop 2-4 hours after death, becomes non-fixed up to 8-12 hours after death, and fixed after 8-12 hours from the time of death.[7] Non-fixed refers to whether the skin is blanchable: this means that – when lividity is present – if the skin is pressed, the colour will disappear, a bit like when you press your own skin now. [8] But this process can be affected by factors such as temperature and changing body position.